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Monday, January 13, 2014

DDoS on Maidan Monitoring Website - Information Wars Continue

Kharkiv - As reported by the Executive Director of Maidan Monitoring, via social media, the Maidan Monitoring site has been under Distributed Denial of Service during the last 24-48 hours. As someone involved in currating the English language part of that site, I have not been able to successfully log on and given the events in Kharkiv in the last forty-eight hours and in the past it comes as no surprise that these DDoS are taking place.

Over the past two days the All-Ukrainian Euromaidan Forum was held in Kharkiv in order to coordinate activities of all the different Euromaidan's throughout the country. However, as many may have expected, there was no structure that was created that would be above each individual Euromaidan from all regions of Ukraine. This was clearly specified by my old friend Ihor Kotsiuruba on his Facebook post:

The Forum is over. In an hour we are driving form Kyiv-Lviv. Shortly about the most important. No, and I emphasize NO!!! overseeing structure was created (in principle). In Kharkiv the representives of the Euromaidans to analyze the situation in Ukraine. To develop matters of security, coordination and communication of the Maidans. We continue our work. Glory to Kharkiv! Glory to Ukraine!

Those in Kharkiv were not without their problems for a number of reason but one video that I saw becomes extremely disturbing when trying to understand those who are supposed to serve and protect decide to do things that anywhere in a developed democracy would be considered criminal.

I had seen this video once or twice during the course of the day, but when a friend of mine posted it on Facebook with the following note:

A good sized demonstration[In Kharkiv, VP] was held today. Watch this video if you would like to see:
1 - the catching of a provocateur throwing smoke bombs
2 - police taking control of the situation and walking off with the guy
3 - The guy running away
4 - A police lieutenant colonel explaining the situation

Watch it for evidence of police (put-in-your-own-bad-word) and citizen strength in documenting it.

Before I share the video with you I would like you to take note of my comments that I responded to him on his FB page regarding the video. I would like you all to make your own judgments, but such video footage always requires careful analysis.

It wasn't so much that they guy walked away after attacking someone but look at the video closely. The first guy the capture and are holding is wearing a hoody, and if you notice the back of his jacket @ about 0:29's into the video you will see that the jaket that this guy is wearing, looks like it is leather or immitation leather...

While he walks off with the guy, but here there seems to be a second character... Look carefully @ 01:28. You will see that there is knife on the ground and the cop moves towards it and @ 1:30 he places his foot on the knife in order to conceal it. e

Into the frame comes a third party, not the guy that they had caught throwing smoke bombs or whatever, but a guy with a pseudo-down coat on wearing what we in Canada would call a 'tuque'.

@ 1:31 the cop takes his foot off the knife...at 1:33 you can clearly see the knife between the cop and the third party.

@ 1:34 he covers it with his foot once again. @ 1:37 the third party pics up the knife and by 1:40 the third party has put this knife in his jacket to hide it..

The question I have is not about the first guy they let go wearing the hoody, but the second guy with the knife. So much is optics as a friend of mine put it. The cop did not identifiy himself until it was someone who had official media accreditation that asked him to do so - which is he must do. This happens at 3:55 when someone says. "I am a representative of the Press, please identify yourself!" Yes, in the end they are taking the guy in the hoody into custody, but the question remains? Who was the guy that the cop hid the knife for and what is their relationship?

Throughout the second part of this video there is one person who is constantly asking the Lieutenant why he let the guy with the knife walk away. You please make your own decisions, but right now, there is an information war going on and I must get things out via all possible channels with Maidan Monitoring being unaccesible to me as one if its Englihsh language currators.

Oh, in addition, the Forum that was held in Kharkiv was attacked many times by "titushky" (hired thugs). Most likely hired by the likes of the local Mayor and the Oblast Governor. The Kharkiv Euromaidan group has had had arson attacks, knifings, thefts and now attacks that just show how desparate those who have usurped power are to maintain it.